Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)’s solanezumab and Roche Holding AG’s gantenerumab were selected for a long-term Alzheimer’s trial run by Washington University at St. Louis scientists seeking to block the disease’s symptoms. The experimental medicines will be tested in 160 people with a mutation that guarantees they will develop Alzheimer’s at an early age, perhaps as young as 30, the university said in a statement today. There is no known cure for the disease. If the trial is successful, it may lead to those drugs being widely used for people who may have a family history of the condition. Solanezumab slowed the decline in some patients with mild Alzheimer’s and provided no benefit to more advanced patients, Indianapolis-based Lilly announced in August. On Oct. 8, an independent group of scientists confirmed the findings. “Trying to prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms from ever occurring is a new strategy,” said John C. Morris, the trial’s principal investigator and a professor of neurology, in today’s statement. That will be the goal of the research, he said.